Country Info
- Porto-Novo
- Capital
- CFA Franc BCEAO (XOF)
- Currency
- 6,590,782
- Population
- BJ
- Country Code
Benin Slideshow
Benin
Travel Blogs from Benin
New Years in Pobe!!
... and that I would like to pray for them in english. It was cool. I prayed at 12:00 am maybe 12:05 for a church in Benin on the year 2004. It was a cool experience. So again, a big difference here than the states is the celebration continues for about 4 ...
il pleut...
... of rain. Of course, for myself, I wasn't inside... This is morning number two at my new host family's house in Nothern Benin. I awoke this morning to some roosters doing there thing (which they also tend to enjoy doing around 3, when it's not time ...
independence cha cha
I woke to the independence, cha cha song playing on repeat this morning. Today, is Benin's independence day and they are celebrating 46 years of independence. After a little breakfast, my papa took me on his moto to the celebration. It was about a 30 ...
"The Last..."
Independence Day. My last day in Benin. I wake up awake again. It could be optimism due to excitement about going home, my body adapting to the drug or...well, it's optimism. I didn't feel that great but I had a big day ahead of me. The guest house here ...
The Great Mousecapade Continues
... I are making twice that a month each as PCVs. So this was a real eye-opener for what people are living off of here in Benin. Jason and Rebecca also helped Dassibou a little with the construction of a new 1 room mud house. We really only served as a ...
Work, weather and running
March 3, 2005 Hey everyone! We're in town again trying to get everything squared away for Jason's training for environmental education in the schools. This project will be 3 days long. It will be done 2 times, since there are 63 schools in the ...
12 Things I Miss About Home...Besides Food
... bread is 125 (25 cents) and zem rides (motorcycle taxis) are 100 francs (20 cents). But being yovo (white) in Benin automatically sets the starting price in any negotiation at least double or triple the real Beninese price. This can get ...
New Pictures from Benin and our Travels in France
Hey everyone, We just finished putting captions on pictures Eric has developed for us so check it out and let us know if this site is working for everyone. Thanks and we'll write again soon, Jason and Rebecca The link should be: ...
First Thoughts on Benin
... that everyone had. We then were bused to NY flew to Paris, 7 hours of layover later we cought another 6 hour flight to Benin (pronounced Been-in). We were met and swept through customs by the PC officials which made the very hectic airport a lot more ...
Le Grand Marché
Every second I learn or experience something new. One thing I hope to learn is posture! Every African from the moment they stand has such a proud, straight back and high-held head. No wonder the women manage to carry such heavy things on their perfectly ...
If a Beninoise were going to America...
Here are the things he should know first: 1. you can be arrested for public exposure if you decide to urinate right outside of the (non bush) taxi and / or poo. 2. the throaty clicks you use to mean 'whatever' or 'that is soooo wrong' or 'can you ...
Another Funeral
Another Funeral... This time my landlord's grandfather died. Notice that funerals are very expensive events for families. Luckily, my landlord's family is rich. Most families acquire major debt when a funeral ...
Another Dinner...
Carrot cake/bread, Wine and Sprite, Omelets, sauce legumes (a leaf you buy in the marché and cook like spinach), and fried potato ...
The World is Painted....
The high school is called the CEG and is located in Houegbo. Meredith, one of the PCVs, who painted the mural works at this ...
Pigs
A Returning Peace Corp Volunteer friend of my village President (the Chief d'Arrondissment, named Joseph) wanted me to visit a pig raising facility that he helped Joseph develop. The location is out in the middle of no-where...we rode in a car for ...
The Chouk Marché
The Chouk (spelling??) marché...it's quite an interesting experience. Chouk is a unique liquid-beer that tastes kind of cider-ish. The vendor (the lady in the blue and white on the left) sits in the center of a circle of clients with her big bucket of ...
Dassa Funeral
The mother of my church president's wife died. The funeral wa in the town of Dassa. Basically my entire village was at this ...
Church
Around 2pm, I decided to go visit Augustine. She still looks ill, but well enough to be back at work. As I was walking back home from her house, I ran into a man who remembered me from yesterday morning's run. He was one of the people in the ...
Adventures of the PC
We headed back to Kandi this morning. We went to the taxi-gare at 10am; we knew the taxi driver was informed we'd be arriving, so there was no reason for us to be there at 8am. At 11am, we finally left Banikora. There were 14 people, 3 baby goats, AND ...
Going on a Safari
Mom wrote.... Hard to believe it, but we are up and on the road at 6:15 AM. It is dark, but the streets are busy with people walking and traffic buzzing by us. The first stop is at a darkened gas station. It appeared to be ...
Exam day
Today was the language exam...The exam is an oral one, where somebody unrelated to PC comes in and asks us questions. The conversation is recorded and then listened/reviewed by a group of people who then decide on a "grade". My tester wasn't very clear ...
The Election
This is what the ballot looked like for the election. 26 candidates. Most people can't read, so they put a picture of the person, along with a symbol of what he or she stands for. This pic was taken after the elections occurred....someone wrote all ...
Holiday Greetings from Materi
Hey there everybody!!! WOW Where do we begin??? Well I guess we should go in cronological order starting from our trip up to Materi. All the PCVs tell you that you should savor your trip up to your site because it's the only time you a provided a ...
Culture Shock!!!!
... to make a deal. This is certainly a different way to shop. Today was also a good introduction to the history of Benin. This small country was once the center for European slave traders to come, gather slaves and send them on boats to the ...